Sonic Snapshots
by May000
Summary: A few short fics on various Sonic characters. Knuckles is Angry, Tails learns to fly, Sonic turns super, The Master Emerald stays powerful, Amy remembers, Robotnik has fantasies, Shadow is unbreakable and Chaos is destruction.
1. Thanks

AN – This takes place after Sonic 3 and Knuckles, after Sonic and Tails have returned the master emerald.

Thanks

After it had all happened, Knuckles had turned to Sonic and Tails to say thank-you. Not a wimpy thank-you, like he'd desperately needed it. He could have worked it out himself, after all. Robotnik's bots were really worth nothing beneath his fists. It needed to be a thanks of camaraderie- the sort of thanks said between two soldiers who'd covered each other's backs throughout a bloody battle. He _had_ gotten the pair out of the place, hadn't he?

So, he'd said "Thank-you. Couldn't have done it without you. You had a safe journey out, didn't you? If ever need a little bit of help, some brute strength, let me know, I will be honoured, as the Guardian of The Master Emerald, to help you."

At least, he would have said that, if the little blue bastard hadn't stopped him and rested a hand on his shoulder and stared wide eyed with that (probably) phony Don't-Worry-Poor-Little-Victim gaze and said 'Don't worry, Buddy, it's what I do for people in need'. Knuckles had stared, his face going red, or it would have done if it wasn't that colour already. He gritted his teeth and formulated a come-back that ran along the lines of his not being one of Sonic's little hero worshippers that had got itself trapped in a robot and he could punch his way through walls so under no circumstances was he ever really in a position where Sonic would really need to rescue him because could Sonic couldn't do that, no, all he could do was run really fast big whoop he couldn't even fly without the help of a baby fox with two tails.

But he never said that because Sonic was off again, leaving a trail of dust in the recently mechanically tilled dirt. Knuckles slumped, the tension wriggling around his shoulders. Well, at least he had his island back. Perhaps he could go back to protecting the emerald in peace.


	2. Learning To Fly

Learning To Fly

As he flew, Miles Prower's tails would wind and untwine, propelling his weight through the air. It was something that was deceptively simple, but had been rather complicated when he'd first started learning how to use his tails that way. Finding out he could do had been something of a surprise and he often thought how it could have been that he'd never have found out that his tails could do that.

Miles had been four years old and climbing trees. He had once thought that all foxes had two tails, but recent unpleasant revelations had set him straight. Two tails wasn't normal. Two tails was bad, and that meant that Miles, himself, was bad. But Miles wasn't bad, he was just…different. He'd lived alone, then, living on fruits from trees. It had been autumn when he'd been up that particular tree, picking the apples that had just ripened. These were wild apples, not ones cultivated by farmers or whatnot, and they were rather misshapen and often a bit bruised. Having carefully wrapped his limbs around at upmost branch, he plucked a fruit from the tree. It looked smooth, relatively bruiseless and oh! A small pink worm wriggled out in shock, skimming over Miles' hand as it fell. In his own surprise, Miles let go of the branch and began to fall.

.

He moved his limbs useless and just before he reached the ground, his tails knotted together and unknotted themselves in the fear of the moment. This caused the air to push him up, slightly, which then caused his descent to slow down somewhat. This saved his life, in the end, or at least, saved him a few broken bones. It was still a pretty hard bump and Miles did end up with some nasty bruises and a sprained wrist, but nothing that wouldn't heal.

Next time he was out, he tried jumping from a fence, carefully angling his tails so they would twist right and propel him again. Learning to fly took some practice; it was like learning to walk, which Miles had to some degree, also taught himself. Like learning to walk, basic flight soon became second nature, and he began to experiment with different speeds and heights. It was a glorious thing, to, for once, have something everyone else wanted and few others had.

A couple of years later, a blue hedgehog gave him the affectionate nickname of 'Tails'.


	3. Addicted

Addicted

The blood pulsed through Sonic's veins as he pressed himself onwards. Like this, the air seemed to slice around him so easily, there was no resistance. He felt like he'd never run out of power, out of speed, and would keep going forever, crashing through everything in his way.

Nothing mattered but the thump of electricity beneath his skin; the sheer power of the gem's energy swelling in his mind and in his heart and flowing through every cell in his body and oh it was amazing, it was glorious and he was the strongest thing in the world. Metal was like water underneath his flesh, and water was…like this water didn't have any effect, whatsoever. He was protected, he was armoured. He WAS the armour. This was life in its rawest, most natural form.

It would run out, though. It always did. Sonic collapsed on his grass as his fur returned to its cobalt blue, his limbs shaking, his head and his heart pounding and his lungs pumping frantically. He could…he could very easily become addicted to being super-powered.


	4. Chosen

AN: I felt like there needed to be a piece on the Master Emerald. It is, after all, the biggest Macguffin in the whole series. Also, I had to look up whether female echidnas lactated or not, since they are oviparous and I wasn't sure, but I guess it's obvious since they are mammals.

Chosen

The Master Emerald was forged in the chaotic maelstrom beneath the home of the ancient echidnas. When the first living things laid eyes on it, it pulsed, almost in recognition of sapient life. It housed the God of Chaos and the power of Chaos flowed within it, and anyone who stared into its depths could see everything and nothing at once.

It swam with energy and that energy could grant supremacy or corruption beyond imagination. Such a dangerous thing could not be left unwatched, and, so the echidna tribe built a shrine from the stone of its earth to house it in. There, it would be guarded at all hours by one selected from the people.

Each time, it was a young puggle, chosen at random even before they had hatched from the egg. To set it apart, the egg would be given to the tribal leader with great honour by the parents, and it would be painted, to denote its importance. The egg would be in the care of several female echidnas, including several wetnurses. The puggle would be raised and taught in the ways of the guardian. It would not be kept from the tribe at large, but it would be expected to adher to a much stricter schedule than that of other echidna children.

The child would progress to the role of guardianhood with a ceremony, marking their honoured life bonded with the Master Emerald. The Seven Lesser Chaos Emeralds were pivotal to this ceremony, also, to be guarded alongside the Master Emerald. The child would remain pure and blessed throughout its life. It would be waited on hand and foot, with every need it had catered to beside the Master Emerald.

Thousands of years later, the race of the Echidnas had all but died out, and the Emerald still swam with power.


	5. Not The Way It Should Have Gone

Not The Way It Should Have Gone

Amy noticed something new every time she saw Sonic. Last time, it had been the smooth line of blue fur up the side of his ear. It looked smooth, and of course the skin was pretty delicate, there. His fur was always softest on his front; she remembered curling into it as they had left the little planet, revelling in the lushness of it, even after he'd ran through a factory, smashing robots left and right. She could recall the feeling of his muscles moving under his fur as he ran, and the way the smoothness of his fur ran into his hard spines when she put her arms around his neck.

Pink and blue. They went together. Pink girl and blue boy. It was like a fairy tale. The princess was always pink and pretty and the prince was always true and blue and he rescued her and then kissed her before sweeping her off into the sunset.

And that was what had happened. Except…not quite. He'd rescued her, yes, and held her close as they'd escaped as the sphere had collapsed in on itself. Amy had concentrated on his arms being around her as she'd held her own up over her eyes in fear. But Sonic had almost flown through the air with almost no fear at all. Just pure resolve and energy. Amy had loved him in a girlish way before that, but at that point she didn't think she'd ever want to be out of his company.

But then he'd set her down, given her a wink and a thumbs up and said 'take care, kid, see you around!' and left. Amy had watched the trail of dust as he'd gone. It shouldn't have gone like that. It really shouldn't.


	6. Dreams

Dreams

The metal drill thrust deep into the fertile earth of Angel Island. It was almost…suggestive, thought Robotnik, with a smirk. No-one around to tell of that of that little Freudian insight, since the mechanical minds of his worker bots generally did not understand much humour, but the Doctor generally did not mind that lack of engaging conversation. The few capable of cognitive and imaginative thought that entered his inner sanctum generally had their minds on other things.

And none of them would ever be able to get their furry brains around anything he said, anyway. Vermin didn't think. Vermin shouldn't think. That damn hedgehog and his malformed brat of a friend should know their place. Robotnik had plans. The things he would do to that blue freak should he ever get his hands on him. Some animals could be shot on sight, and taken for meat or biological parts, some were good to sedate and put into a badnik, but the hedgehog…he had _special_ plans for Sonic. The things involved…he'd gone over it over and over again inside his head. Bit by bit, step by step. Every torturous implement, every scream of pain, every drop of blood. Sometimes, Robotnik went off to a peaceful slumber just fantasising about it.


	7. Unbreakable

Unbreakable

His bones were near unbreakable. If they did break, they would heal quickly enough that it might as well never have happened. He could burn half to death, fall from space to Earth and it wouldn't, after a short time, be at all apparent in his physical form.

Shadow always supposed he was glad that he was made in such a way. 'Made' because, well, he had been. Not born, not nurtured, not carried. Not a robot, actually, but as near to one as a biological creature could be. He was a living weapon and what greater thing was there, really?

But, Shadow remembered. He thought. He _felt._ Of course, it was neither in his interest nor his nature to let on about this, much. Scars showed up in his mind, even if they didn't in his body. He locked them away, now, since he knew who he was. Perhaps in sleep, he'd acknowledge them, but distance was key if he was going to be what he should be. Maybe it was a good idea to be as close to a robot as possible.

He figures the blue hedgehog and his friends probably saw him as living, but as stoic a living thing as could be, even the pink girl. He wasn't sure if Omega could really parse true sentience in another mind, and didn't know if the robot would bother with it even if he could. Rouge…Rouge saw him as something, but he wasn't sure what. Not quite like he was formidably lacking in emotion, but not quite like he was something to be used. He'd thought the latter, but…the way she behaved towards him was unusual and he wasn't quite sure what she wanted.


	8. Chaos

Chaos

Chaos: God of Destruction was its formal name. It was, like most great forces of nature, incredibly powerful and potentially dangerous, but, mostly, neutral. It was analogous to a weapon, in that whoever had control over its actions would dictate whether it fell under the cause of good or evil.

As the Guardian of the innocent, childlike race, the chao, Chaos _was_ seen as some to be innately good. In particular, the echidna Tikal, who believed in the idea of absolute good, and who protected the emerald, fiercely. It was always the Guardian's First and Only duty and purpose to put the emerald before all else, but Tikal was more than that. The emerald and the chao children were her life and her only cares.

Under some, Chaos was evil. Years after Tikal sealed herself inside the emerald, the large human had discovered Chaos, and started feeding the God the lesser chaos emerald, something that should never be done, under the rule of the ancient echidnas. Even as the first chaos emerald slipped into the gelatinous surface of its physical manifestation, the God of Destruction began to hunger. The energy pulsing through its form made it yearn for more…it would fight. The human fed him the emeralds only every so often and the force of those already inside it wanting their brothers made it almost blind with violent need. What it could barely see, however, was an echidna, bright red and of a form seared inside its mind as long dead but there he was staring at it with incredulous fear and extreme hate and nothing of the worship his kind had had for the God of Destruction and in its revelry, that made Chaos all the more vindictive.

The human spoke to it, cooed at it, spoke soothing words that the animals were scum and vermin and that he should kill them all, because then the two of them could rule. Like the echidna Tikal except twisted and cruel but Chaos didn't care because Chaos was hungry. As the emeralds were fed, the appetite built, until it was huge and powerful and running on pure energy and even the human who fed him got swept away. The world belonged to it, and now it was a true god as all real gods should be and the world would lay swamped beneath the glory of Chaos.

And then the tiny blue thing had hit it and the emeralds flew from its bloated, aqueous frame and it howled as the drive left it, as its form diminished to its guardian status. Almost without form, itself. Powerless and nothing. But there she was. Tikal, and the chao. Its keepers, its trust. The human was gone, and peace took over its visible brain as it transcended with the female echidna back to the afterworld of chaos.


End file.
